Heparan sulfate proteoglycans in cell dynamics

• Grant number: 17/05707-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: May 01, 2017
• End date: December 31, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry - Molecular Biology
• Principal Investigator: Helena Bonciani Nader
• Grantee: Tábata Bergonci
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 15/03964-6 - Glycosaminoglycans and proteoglycans: interplay between structure and function, AP.TEM
• Associated scholarship(s): 19/14432-6 - Roles of the core protein of Syndecan-4 and heparan sulfate chains in endothelial cells signaling pathways, BE.EP.PD

Abstract

Glycoproteins are the most abundant forms of proteins in complex organisms, and this post-translational modification is responsible for many of the fine control mechanisms that coordinate the events that allow the existence of complex life. Sindecan-4 (Syn4), transmembrane proteoglycans, plays an important role in cellular behavior, due to its interaction via Heparan Sulfate (HS) chains, with a variety of extracellular region molecules. These molecules physically communicate the ECM to the cytoskeleton, acting as signal transducer from the extracellular environment to the intracellular environment and vice versa. Due to this property, a myriad of cellular functions can be affected, such as: cell differentiation, proliferation, migration, apoptosis and inflammatory response. This project aims to establish the molecular basis of possible functional complexes among proteoglycans, integrins, cellular receptors and MEC components in cell dynamics using molecular and cellular biology tools. (AU)